March 4
1858 Matthew C. Perry, U.S. Navy Commodore, died. In 1853, Perry (b. 1794) led four American warships into Edo (Tokyo) Bay. Perry brought a letter from the U.S. president which called on the Japanese to open their country to trade and to provide assistance for American ships and sailors in distress. He told the Tokugawa government that he would return with a larger force in a year and hoped that at that time the Tokugawa would consent to the American "requests." In 1854 Perry did return and Japan's two and a half century old policy of seclusion came to an end as the regime, mindful of the British defeat of the Chinese in the Opium War (1839-42) and fearing bombardment or blockade, elected to permit limited trade and the establishment of an American mission in Japan (Kanagawa Treaty, signed March 31, 1854).
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© 2001 UCLA Center for East Asian Studies